Card shuffler



United States Patent Office 2,763,484 Patented Sept. 18, 1956 CARD SHUFFLER Frederick W. Mentz, La Crescenta, Calif. Application September 10, 1954, Serial No. 455,202 2 Claims. (Cl. 273-149) The present invention relates to card shutflers.

Ordinarily devices for shufiling playing cards are such that the cards are loosely arranged in a container to be shifted about by applying motion to the container resulting in mingling of the cards at random without certainty of equal intermingling of the cards being shufiled.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a device by which one pack of cards is disposed oppositely respecting another pack of cards and then sprung uniformly together so the cards of one pack initially overlap those in the other pack to permit them to be moved together in a completely shuflied condition.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a device by which playing cards are accurately and quickly shufiled with but slight effort.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a card shuffling device which may be cast from plastic and has only a single movable part, and one which does not bend the individual cards to any great extent and requires only slight pressure of a single finger on each portion of the divided stack to effect rapid and thorough intermingling of their corners.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a card shufiling device having a sloping upper surface so that the cards will tend to slide together as their corners intermingle, and which may be rapidly moved in side to side motion to more quickly move the cards together into an assembled stack.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent from the following description when considered with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the present invention,

Figure 2 is a front view in elevation of the present invention,

Figure 3 is an end view in elevation with the bar member in rest position,

Figure 4 is a sectional view on line 4-4 of Figure 1 showing the swinging movement of the bar member in dotted lines,

Figure 5 is a sectional view on line 55 of Figure 1, and

Figure 6 is a view from the rear, in elevation, showing the bar member in partially raised position and showing the cards falling from each stack in intermingled condition.

Referring in more detail to the drawing, in which like numerals indicate like parts throughout the several views it will be seen that the present invention consists of a flat base 10 having its upper surface sloping from each end toward the center. The base has converging sides 8 and along each of the sides 8 are a pair of upstanding stops 11 and 12, the stop 11 being disposed adjacent the convergent end of the base and the stop 12 being disposed adjacent the divergent end of the base. The stops are each of angle shape, and each pair of stops is adapted to engage one of the two adjacent corners of a stack of cards.

The pairs of stops 11 and 12 are set so that one of the corners on the opposite side of the stacks of cards supported on the base point toward each other. With the stacks each inclined toward each other one of the corners on the opposite side of the stacks rests or bears against each side of a vertically extending bar member 13 which is formed with a handle end 17 remote from its end 14 which is pivotally secured to the upright post 15 positioned medially of the divergent end of the base 10.

As seen in Figure 4, the bar member 13 is swingable to a position away from the base on which it normally rests, and as seen in Figure 6 the bar member 13 as it moves upwardly releases the stacks of cards 20 so that they fall on the base with their third corners 21 intermingled.

A quick shake from side to side of the base without removing from the supporting surface 16 assists each stack to move toward the center of the base so that when the cards are picked up they are intermingled by more than their corners only, and with practiced dexterity the card player may be able to form a single shufiled stack.

It will be seen that little pressure is needed to make the cards snap by their third corners as they leave the bar member, and so the cards are not bent to any dc gree and will not be subject to the wear to which they are subjected when hand shuffled and riffled from hand to hand.

While only a single preferred embodiment has been here shown and described, other embodiments of the present invention may be made and practiced and many changes and modifications may be made Within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A device for shuffling cards comprising a base, said base having converging sides, a pair of stops positioned along each of said sides and fixedly secured to said base, one of each pair of the stops being disposed adjacent the convergent end of each of the convergent sides of said base and the other of the stops being disposed adjacent the divergent end of each of the convergent sides of said base, said pairs of stops each being adapted and arranged to engage adjacent two corners on one side of a stack of cards when supported on said base, and a vertically extending bar member medially of the divergent end of said base and pivotally secured by one end to said base at one side thereof and being swingably movable with respect to said base from a position resting on said base to a position away from said base, said bar member when in rest position being adapted and arranged to support one of the corners on the opposite side of said stacks of cards so supported and when moving to the position away from said base to release said stacks toward each other whereby said stacks will fall with their one corners on the opposite side intermingled on said base.

2. A device for shuffling cards comprising a base formed with an upper supporting surface sloping from each end toward its center, said base having converging sides, a pair of stops positioned along each of said sides and fixedly secured to said base, one of each pair of stops being disposed adjacent the convergent end of each of the converging sides of said base and the other of the stops being disposed adjacent the divergent end of each of the converging sides of said base, said pairs of stops each being adapted and arranged to engage adjacent two corners on one side of a stack of cards when supported in inclined position on said base, and a vertically excardss'o supportedand when moving to theposition'aWay i from said base to release said stacks toward each other whereby said stacks will fall'with their one corners on the oppositesides intermingled on said base, and will'slide from said outer edges of said base toward the center thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,675,239 Saunders Apr. 13, 1954 FOREIGNFA'TENTS 29,288 Great Britain-" .2;; 1913 

